It is known to use plastic saddle clamps to hold piping or tubing in place. One environment of use for such saddle clamps is to support fuel lines or other tubing structures in an aircraft wing. In this environment the saddle clamp is required to accommodate flexing of the fuel line without significantly abrading or otherwise damaging the fuel line. Saddle clamps formed from plastic polymers such as polyamides, polyesters and the like provide these desirable characteristics.
One characteristic of the polymers used in the prior saddle clamps is that they have low electrical conductivity. Thus, friction may cause electrical charges to build up on the fuel lines during use. To avoid accumulation of such electrical charges it has been common to affix a metal ring about the tube and to run a conductive cable to a bolt or other electrical contact element which is electrically coupled to the frame of the aircraft. As will be appreciated, while this arrangement is quite effective in dissipating electrical charge, it requires a number of additional components and connections thereby increasing assembly time. Moreover, since the conductive cables must be attached by a person, there is a possibility that human error may result in one or more of the cables being grounded improperly or not at all. Further, even when all connections are properly made during initial installation, one or more cables may become disengaged during use or routine maintenance thereby reducing the efficiency of the electrical contact system.
In light of the above, it would be desirable to provide a clamp suitable to secure a fuel tube or the like to a support frame wherein the clamp provides inherent electrical contact with the tube being carried without the necessity of using a separate charge dissipation element. It would also be desirable for such a clamp to retain the ability to avoid surface abrasion of the tube being carried.